Places to Gather...

We will start a series of posts called "Places to Gather" and highlight new venues in the city. Hope you like it.

The first one is the newly renovated Luna Lounge, an upscale restaurant located at Lawrence and Avenue Road, Toronto, ON.

The 150-person, 3000 square foot space has been completely renovated and re-designed by acclaimed design company HE Designs. The venue features 3 intimate bar areas, plus front & back outdoor patios.

Headed by Chef Mathew Alexander, the lounge features an exciting Tapas menu of small food items that includes key menu dishes such as Jerked Australian Lamb Pops, Seafood Tian, Stuffed Zucchini Flowers and Beef Carpaccio. A wide arrange of jazz, rhythm & blues, soul, funk & rare-grooves serves as the perfect musical backdrop.

Let us know if you like this place. :)
Renata Altrão & The Gatherings Team

The benefits of utilizing a virtual office...

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to have a prestigious Bay Street address for your home-based business?
Do you need to increase your businesses profile, and professionalism in your chosen market?
Then you will want to have a closer look at what I truly believe should be of consideration. The "Virtual Office" is the best option for small businesses, and start-ups. It’s an amazing way to get your company up off the ground, or further your company’s goals, and efforts; in a fast, efficient, and cost effective way.

Perfect for a home based businesses, or for companies expanding into a new markets. A virtual office is an easy, cost-effective way to give the best impression from the get go. Enjoy all the benefits of having a fully functioning office without moving from your present location; including priority access to offices and meeting rooms. Executive Business centre’s like "The Rostie Group", offer the following virtual office solutions, completely tailor able to fit your businesses needs:

• Prestigious business address - for use on your business cards, letterhead and marketing materials
• Mail collection and forwarding - Mail is collected, packages are signed for and sent to you according to your instructions
• Preferred rates on office supplies and couriers - Receive discounted rates on FedEx and more
• Access ready-to-use offices and meeting rooms - preferred rates
• On-demand administrative and technical support - Access to administrative and technical IT support teams
• Incoming and outgoing faxes - Use local fax number; collection and sending faxes to you, wherever you are
• A local phone number - Provide a local phone number to all your contacts
• Personalized call answering - Professional receptionist answers your calls in your company’s name according to your specifications
• Call redirecting - Specialized technology enables call redirection to your primary number
• Voice mailbox - Remote setup and retrieval of your personal voicemail 24/7
• Lobby listing - Your company will be listed in the lobby along with all building tenants
• 16 hours of private office time - Work from a professionally furnished and equipped office, in your location, for 16 hours a month

Read more about Virtual Offices:

Rostie Group, How Stuff Works, CBC, A Better Virtual, PR Web, Los Angeles Times, TMC Net, SCPR, Philly.com, TreeHugger, TreeHugger, NPR, YouTube

The Rostie Group
Downtown Toronto Location
WaterPark Place, 20 Bay Street, 11th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5J 2N8
Email: info@rostiegroup.com
Tel: (416) 214-1840
Toll Free: 1-800-648-1840

Looking for casual work in Toronto?

Gatherings Event Planning & Fundraising, a full service event planning in Toronto, is always seeking reliable, friendly people with positive attitude for casual work . So whether you are a server or bartender, we want to hear from you.

Also, we are always looking for volunteers to help out with fundraising events, it's a great opportunity for networking, meet people and get some experience.

Please e-mail renata@gatheringseventplanning.com with the following information:

• Are you Smart Serve Licensed?
• Are you looking for work as server, bartender or both?
• Do you have experience?
• Are you looking for volunteer opportunities?

Don't forget to include your cell phone at the end of the e-mail and attach your resume.
Cheers!

Renata Altrão
Gatherings Event Planning

FastLane and the Community...

This month event was held at Kultura, same venue as last year, and once again was a great success.

April's FastLane centered on what you as a Torontonian can do to give back to the community. Community partners had its own booth including United Way's GenNext, Volunteer Toronto, Toronto Twilight Rotary Club, Junior League of Toronto & Hope House.

Attendees had the opportunity to participate in Speed Networking, a service that was introduced to Toronto by FastLane, similar to speed dating. People are able to meet others who can be potencial business partners, clients or event to build up a potencial contact list.

Next event's theme is "Wine and Chocolate Tasting". Stay tunned!

Date: May 18th, 2010
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Location: Downtown Infinity Dealership - 43 Eastern Ave., Toronto
Cost: $25 in Advance, or $35 at the door
Please contact us for group rates @ 416-551-0241
Tickets HERE.

Renata Altrão & The Gatherings Team
Pictures coming soon :)

Upcoming event: April 13, 2010: Fastlane in the Community

Titled “FastLane in the Community”, April’s FastLane centres on what you as a Torontonian can do to give back to the community.

Last years “FastLane in the Community” was such a success that we were inspired to approach Kultura and United Way’s GenNext and they have partnered with us again for 2010. Kultura will once again host FastLane in the Community; you can absorb the rustic appeal of Kultura throughout this unique networking experience. Other community partners new this year include the Volunteer Toronto, Toronto Twilight Rotary Club, Junior League of Toronto & Hope House.

Come check out the opportunities these organizations have available to you, after all experience is everything; you can take all of the skills you learn throughout your time volunteering and apply them to achieving your career goals.

After hearing such rave reviews at February’s FastLane we are bringing back the ever so popular Speed Networking sessions - a service that was introduced to Toronto by FastLane. Participants will have seven minutes to begin a business relationship creating an opportunity to leverage each others’ success. Remember to bring your business cards!

Date: Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Location: Kultura, 169 King Street E
Tickets: On-line Advance $25 ea / 2 for $40 or $35 at the Door
For tickets please click here.

*Your ticket includes a complementary beverage, hors d’oeuvres, a gift bag and a chance to win door prizes.

We'd like to thank all sponsors for their support: Kultura, Emergen-C, Hope House, Junior League of Toronto, Sweax, Starbucks, Toronto Twilight Rotary, United Way GenNext and Volunteer Toronto.

Benefits of a GOOD bed...

If you haven’t experienced a full, interrupted night’s sleep then you don’t know what you’re missing. I can honestly say I’ve been sleep deprived for the last few years and didn’t know it. Does this sound familiar:

- I wake up several times per night
- I often toss & turn to get comfortable
- I feel my partner move in bed and it wakes me up
- I feel tired & groggy in the morning
- I don’t feel like I’ve had a full night’s sleep

If this describes your current situation, I highly recommend investigating a new bed. My partner & I recently embarked on the enormous task of purchasing a new bed and came across the Tempurpedic “memory foam” bed. I’m not usually one to give such strong recommendations on a specific brand but certainly in this case it is warranted.

A recent nationwide survey revealed four in 10 of us sleep poorly and the average amount of sleep is just 6.6 hours, almost 90 minutes short of the recommended guide of 8 hours, Almost a third say a new bed would make a big difference to their sleep quality: what are you waiting for?!

Kids today are taught at school how to eat properly, the importance of exercise and even how to have safe sex. But for sleep, which takes up a third of our lives, there’s not a whisper. "Daytime tiredness in young students is a real problem, so schools need to provide more formalised information about the benefits of sleep as part of an ongoing compulsory health education" says sleep expert Kath McGrath, author of The Sleep Council's new Goodnight Guide for Children.

If you're not sleeping comfortably - which you won’t if your bed's not right - then you’re not getting the quality sleep you need and without that you won’t have the mental or physical resources to stay calm, in control and on top of things.

Good Night's Sleep!

Kendra Court
Gatherings Event Planning